The fundamental purpose of the conference is to provide an opportunity for sharing multi-disciplinary research on ways of addressing the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance. The conference will bring together economists, legal scholars, sociologists, epidemiologists, medical professionals, drug firms and other policy experts to forge innovative approaches to a broad study of antimicrobial effectiveness as a social resource. A number of research approaches to estimate the cost of antimicrobial resistance to the health care system will be discussed at the meeting. The conference proceedings will focus on the three building blocks for optimal antimicrobial effectiveness: estimation of the cost of resistance to the health care system; formulation of optimal antimicrobial use policies; and promotion of new antimicrobial development. The conference will inform policy makers at state and federal agencies on policy antimicrobial use. The participants will include academics, social science and medical researchers, policy makers from NIH, CDC, HCFA, USDA and FDA, and representatives from the pharmaceutical industry.